War of 1812

War of 18 12. . , In 1812, President James Madison declared war on Great Britain. In February 1813, a fleet of Royal Navy warships entered the Chesapeake Bay and commenced to pillage and burn the properties of the residents of tidewater Virginia and Maryland. Captain Joshua Barney assembled a fleet of light-draft gun-boats and barges, armed with two heavy long guns, which could engage the British landing parties in the shoal waters of the bay, out of range of the major British warships. On June 1, 1814, Commodore Barney and his flotilla faced superior enemy forces and retreated into the Patuxent River at Drum Point. British reinforcements came and forced his fleet into the shallow waters of St. Leonard Creek. The Royal Navy tried for three days to defeat the Americans, but were unable to do so., On June 26, Barney attacked and forced the British downriver to Point Patience, permitting him to escape upriver to Benedict. When a major invasion force from Bermuda landed at Benedict to capture and destroy Washington, Barney was forced farther upstream. Acting upon orders, Commodore Barney took his men and proceeded to the defense of Washington, destroying his own ships in case of the British attacked. This order was executed on August 22 when Barney sank sixteen vessels into the mud near Wayson's Corner.